Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has publicly rejected a U.S.-backed Gaza roadmap advanced by Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace,” saying Israel will not withdraw its forces from the enclave until Hamas disarms. In remarks that framed the disagreement as fundamental rather than procedural, Netanyahu insisted that any disarmament must be “real” and must cover the full range of Hamas weapons rather than a partial or symbolic process.
Haaretz reported that Netanyahu responded to the proposed 15-point plan by drawing a firm line: the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) would not withdraw from Gaza until Hamas is disarmed, emphasizing that Hamas must give up all its weapons, including both heavy and light arms. Under the roadmap described by Haaretz, the weapons would be subject to Palestinian law, and would be stored under a Palestinian technocratic committee responsible for governing Gaza affairs under the supervision of the U.S.-linked board. Netanyahu’s message, however, was that Israel does not accept the plan’s premise that withdrawal can proceed before Hamas’ armed capacity is eliminated. Haaretz
Netanyahu’s position also highlighted a battle over language and substance. Hamas, according to the Haaretz reporting, has avoided using the term “disarmament.” Instead, the group said it agreed to hand over weapons for storage under the Palestinian technocratic committee that would operate Gaza under the board’s oversight. Hamas said its engagement with the proposal was intended to spare Gaza’s population from a possible return to war, but it added that implementation would hinge on Israel first meeting its own commitments, including withdrawal.
The dispute has now crystallized into competing interpretations of what “disarmament” entails and when it must occur. Ynetnews reported that Netanyahu rejected a draft tied to the Trump administration, telling the public that Israel would not withdraw from its current positions in the Gaza Strip until Hamas had been “completely disarmed.” In those remarks, he characterized the disarmament framework as something Israel had not accepted, even as talks with the Americans continued. Ynetnews
Ynetnews further stated that the Board of Peace had described a phased approach in which an IDF withdrawal beyond a defined “yellow line” would take place only after Hamas completed disarmament, including light weapons, heavy weapons, and tunnels. Netanyahu’s criticism, as described by Ynetnews, centered on the confidence—attributed to Trump and his advisers—that Hamas could be induced to disarm and that Gaza could be demilitarized in a way Israel would consider sufficient. Netanyahu’s public emphasis, however, was that Israel and the U.S. team did not share the same standard for what counts as a complete security transformation.
In another report drawing on Netanyahu’s remarks, Ynetnews said Netanyahu rejected the document during the opening of the weekly cabinet meeting and directly addressed the question of whether he had personally articulated the government’s opposition to the framework. He said Israel rejects the 15-point document and warned against what he called “fake disarmament,” describing the demand as “real, not fake disarmament.” The premier added that Israel was continuing discussions with the Americans while maintaining that the IDF would continue to thwart threats against Israeli forces and citizens. Ynetnews
While Netanyahu’s statements were firmly focused on security conditions, they also came amid a grim backdrop of violence in Gaza. The Military.com summary of an Associated Press dispatch reported that Palestinians gathered for a mass funeral for more than 100 bodies that had been recovered from a deadly Israeli strike in Gaza in 2023. It also noted that although a ceasefire had halted much of the fighting, the conflict left at least 1,252 dead in Gaza since the ceasefire took effect, according to the territory’s Health Ministry. Military.com
Netanyahu’s insistence on sequencing—disarmament first, withdrawal later—directly challenges the logic of the proposed roadmap, which couples a political and governance mechanism with security steps. Under the plan as described in Haaretz’s account, weapons would be stored and the governance of Gaza would shift toward a technocratic structure under board supervision. Hamas’ stated view, meanwhile, is that an arrangement that avoids renewed war could be possible, but only if Israel fulfills its own obligations first, including withdrawing from Gaza.
As the debate continues, Netanyahu appears to be aiming for a clearer Israeli interpretation of compliance and enforcement: complete disarmament that addresses every category of Hamas military capability, including tunnels and both heavy and light weapons. His remarks suggest that, from Israel’s perspective, the difference between stored weapons and disarmament in the strategic sense of eliminating the capacity to resume fighting is non-negotiable.
For the U.S.-backed process, the rejection raises the risk that the roadmap’s timeframe and mechanics could stall. For Palestinians, it underscores the uncertainty surrounding any shift in the IDF’s posture and the governance arrangements discussed in the U.S.-linked framework. Netanyahu’s latest comments make clear that, at least for now, Israel is not prepared to treat withdrawal as an immediate bargaining chip while it questions whether Hamas’ weapons would truly be removed rather than reorganized under another oversight structure.
In the immediate term, the statements signal a continued focus on security terms and verification of Hamas’ ability to fight. Netanyahu has instructed that Israel will maintain defensive measures while talks with the Americans proceed, setting the stage for further negotiations over what “complete disarmament” must mean—and when it must happen—before either side can move forward with the broader vision for Gaza’s postwar governance.
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